Premier League side Aston Villa have opened talks with Norwich City about playmaker Emiliano Buendia, according to Football Insider.
The Argentine is a target for several Premier League sides including Arsenal, Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur. It was reported on Friday that Villa and Arsenal had ‘renewed’ their interest in the 24-year-old ahead of this summer after previous interest in the past transfer windows. Dean Smith is looking to strengthen his attacking options this summer as the Midlands club looks to build on their 11th-place finish this season.
Football Insider have been informed by a Villa source that ‘early talks have begun’ with several parties about the potential deal of Buendia this summer. Norwich have made it clear in recent weeks that they are willing to let Buendia leave as long as the £35-£40million asking price is met.
However, as mentioned Villa look to face competition this summer, as Arsenal are also on the lookout for an attacking midfielder this summer, and Mikel Arteta is a fan of the 24-year-old who was crowned Championship player of the season last month. The Gunners are believed to have had an enquiry knocked by back the Canaries in January and instead turned their attention to Martin Odegaard, who they signed on loan from Real Madrid.
Smith has also been a big admirer of the 24-year-old and has been interested in signing Buendia ever since he moved to Villa from Brentford in 2018. Now Villa have registered their interest and have contacted the Championship champions about the advanced playmaker.
Villa identified the 24-year-old as someone who can bring goals and creativity to the side and a player who can help the heavily relied upon Jack Grealish. Buendia scored 15 goals and assisted 16 in the Championship this season, meaning he was involved in 31 goals for Norwich in the whole campaign.
Daniel Farke said in April that it will take a ‘crazy offer’ to sell Buendia this summer, he said: “We have to be realistic, we are a self-funding club and will always have to develop our players. Sometimes you also have to accept if a player has outgrown the club, then there is a solution – we had this in the past with James Maddison, when without the transfer fee it would have been difficult to keep the club going.
“They are all on long-term contracts, so if a club really wants to buy one of our key players, they have to invest an unbelievable amount of money, and it would be pretty difficult.
“But if there is a club which wants to do this and put some crazy offers out, then it is more like you can also use this money to improve and move on as a club. As a head coach, though, my first topic is that I want to work with our best players.”
